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The Buzz: Leland Yee shuts down ballot-measure committee

State Sen. Leland Yee has closed his ballot-measure committee, only days after authorities indicted him on corruption and gun-running conspiracy charges.

The account, One California For All, was terminated effective April 9 after the roughly $1,300 in it as of March 17 was used to pay campaign expenses. Yee created the committee in fall 2008 and it raised about $72,000 from 2009 through 2012, records show. Beginning in 2011, the committee’s stated purpose was “school bond.”

In the complaint against Yee that became public March 26, Yee allegedly encourages an undercover agent seeking contracts with the state to donate.

“When (the agent) asked if there was some way that he could contribute money ‘outside the campaign,’ and not have to be worried, Senator Yee said that (the agent) could contribute unlimited sums to a committee supporting a ballot measure for school funding that Senator Yee also supported,” the complaint reads, describing a 2011 meeting between the senator and agent. “Senator Yee explained that the ads for the measure would feature Senator Yee in a positive piece supporting schools and education.”

– Jim Miller

Worth repeating

“You may hear we actually hate wolves (but) we’re committed to the long-term prospect of the wolf.”

CHUCK BONHAM,director of California Department of Fish and Wildlife. It opposes listing wolves as endangered.

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